OAKLAND — The Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association held its annual meeting at the Chabot Space & Science Center on Monday, and Mayor Libby Schaaf kicked off the evening with a rousing keynote speech.

Newscasters Rosie Lee Allen and Wendy Tokuda were moderators for the evening and led a panel discussion that included police Chief Sean Whent, District 4 Councilmember Annie Campbell Washington and school board District 4 Director Nina Senn.

Schaaf, who was born and raised in the Piedmont Pines neighborhood, spoke to a full house on her home turf.

Schaaf touched on a number of issues, including the recent protests in downtown Oakland, police staffing, pension obligations and the budget.

“My goal is to be the least annoying government in the U.S.,” Schaaf said.

According to Schaaf, the city”s economy is improving, but said it remains a challenge for the city to deal with budgetary concerns in light of the large number of employee contracts that will be up for renegotiation this year. Schaaf will look for ways to restructure the administration without cutting services. Schaaf said that one of her top priorities is public safety.

“I have a relentless focus on safety,” Schaaf said. “It”s where it all starts.”

Schaaf was adamant that the city needs more police officers, and asked citizens to come to City Hall during the budget planning process and advocate for more police.

“I hope it is very clear that there will be no tolerance for those that hurt the city. It took us a while to get into this, it may take a while to get out,” said Schaaf, speaking about the current spate of protests. “Oakland made more arrests than Ferguson, and there will be serious consequences,” Schaaf said. “We are reviewing video and arresting people after the fact.”

Whent said that the protests are an enormous challenge to his understaffed department, but said police have developed strategies for dealing with the situation.

Whent said that improving relations with the community is one of his top priorities. Sworn officers and personnel who come into contact with the public are undergoing procedural justice and legitimacy training, which focuses on treating citizens fairly and with respect. He said that he has gotten positive feedback from officers on the training.

Whent also addressed response times and staffing concerns, admitting that service has not always been adequate. There are now 695 officers, bringing the department closer to its goal of 722 officers. The last two academies will finish their field training in February and March and will bring the number of officers up to 722. There will be another crop of graduates from the academy in April, and two additional academies are scheduled to begin this year.

“I would like 900 officers. That would be optimal — and 800 officers for proper staffing,” Whent said.

Campbell Washington promised to work toward public safety, the rehabilitation of the roadways and the revitalization of the business districts, including those in Dimond, Montclair and Laurel.

Campbell Washington also addressed concerns about fire safety, since the Wildfire Prevention Assessment District failed to obtain a two-thirds vote in a 2013 special election.

Campbell Washington pointed out that the district failed by only 66 votes. She said that if there was interest in the community to put another measure on the ballot, she would be happy to work with the effort. But, she said, if there was no interest in the assessment district, she would not lead the effort.

The wildfire district has enough money left to last through 2015 and into the beginning of 2016, according to Campbell Washington. “I”ve worked in the Fire Department and there is a lot of room for improvement,” said Campbell Washington, in response to a question about the critical Fire Department audit in November 2013.

“I want to be effective with the money we have left.”

Campbell Washington said that she would work with the mayor to address the audit findings within the Fire Department.

In the audit, then-City Auditor Courtney Ruby found that lax oversight by the Fire Department had hampered a critical component of the city”s effort to prevent another devastating wildfire in the Oakland hills. After the 1991 hills fire that killed 25 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes, Oakland ordered firefighters to conduct annual vegetation inspections of roughly 26,000 wildfire-prone properties, but Ruby found that the Fire Department often doesn”t take the inspections seriously and failed to make property owners abate fire risks.

Meanwhile, at the Monday meeting, Senn addressed concerns ranging from truancy to dropout rates to school closures.

“It”s the (school) board”s goal to accomplish quality education based on good data and strategic analysis,” she said.

Senn also touched on the district”s success with the African American Male Achievement program and spoke of expanding the program to include Latino boys.

“The superintendent and the board are generally supportive to expand the program to include Latino males,” Senn said.